President and CEO, Beaver County Chamber of CommerceAge: 28Education: B.A., communications, Geneva College

Little could Erica Loftus imagine how a part-time job at a small-town coffee shop would help shape her career goals.

Like a lot of new graduates, Loftus had trouble finding a full-time job after graduating from college. Finally, she was hired as a part-time barista at a coffee shop in Ambridge.

The job turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

“I loved that coffee shop,” she said. “I got a taste of management and community involvement.”

But she still wanted a full-time job, so she took a position in Akron, Ohio, where work was pretty much confined to an office cubicle.

“That just wasn’t for me,” she said, so she returned to Ambridge, where she was hired as manager of that same coffee shop.

But the coffee shop closed two years later, leaving Loftus again thinking about a career. She accepted a job as co-director of the Ambridge Area Chamber of Commerce and enrolled in graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh, thinking municipal management may be an option.

At the same time, at age 23, she decided to run for mayor of Ambridge. Loftus lost the election and dropped out of grad school, but said the experience helped in making contacts and growing a thick skin. At the chamber, she was a local business liaison to government, helping her realize she preferred association work to public office.

“I got to see both worlds,” Loftus said. “I was building my resume.”

Loftus went looking for a job again in January 2010 and was offered the presidency at the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce five months later. In August, she will mark her third year in the job.

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